Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 24th, 2020
Eddie Murphy has a ton of films under his belt. If you’re like most folks, his antics have long ago become tired and worn out. Come with me now to a time when Murphy was young and full of energy. Trading Places was really only Murphy’s second film after 48 hours. In Trading Places, we get vintage Eddie Murphy. You can tell he was still hungry. Today he simply calls too many performances in. Dan Aykroyd was also at a turning point in his own career. It hadn’t been too long since he lost his longtime partner Jim Belushi to a drug overdose. He was just learning to stand on his own. Put these two guys together today, and there’s not much chance you’d get the solid gold that was possible in 1983. Fortunately for us, there is this HD release of Trading Places, when both actors still felt they had something to prove. The cast was brilliant all the way around. Jamie Lee Curtis displayed her obvious assets for the first time in a film. Known mostly as a scream queen at that time, Curtis was a choice the studio was not at all happy with. The Wolf Man’s own Ralph Bellamy, along with fellow veteran actor Don Amechi, played the Duke brothers to perfection. Finally, Denholm Eliott added his own understated brilliance as Coleman, the butler.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 21st, 2020
"Things are about to get dangerous."
Keep your hands and feet inside the ride vehicle at all times. At some point in his life, Michael Crichton must have had a really bad experience at Disney World. Maybe he got stuck on a ride, or a ghost followed him home from the Haunted Mansion. Whatever his reasons, the man sure had it in for the amusement park industry. He's created two iconic franchises from the "way out" amusement park idea. His novel Jurassic Park incited all of our imaginations, not the least of which was Steven Spielberg's. That amusement park brought back living and breathing dinosaurs who would entertain park attendees, that is when they weren't eating said attendees. But long before that came his screenplay for the 1973 film starring Yul Brenner and James Brolin called Westworld. It was another future amusement park.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 18th, 2020
Every generation has had its Christmas classics, films that have become as much a part of the holiday family traditions as Christmas trees and candy canes. For me it has been the more modern A Christmas Story with ol’ Carl Kolchak himself, Darren McGavin. Kids today have taken more of a shine to even more recent films, but for more than one generation, Christmas wouldn’t be the same without Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life. Since 1947 the film became a seasonal fixture in neighborhood movie houses across the fruited plain. In the 1970’s the film temporarily fell into the public domain and was played relentlessly on local television stations as each holiday came and went. Unfortunately, these were usually prints in horrible condition, so that scratches and splice marks became a part of the experience, not to mention ads for department stores touting their early-bird specials. It is with that experience that I, as did most from my generation, become acquainted with Jimmy Stewart’s George Bailey.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on November 11th, 2020
"And so it began. 30,000 years ago, man discovered his best friend. Dogs were man's best friend and only animal companion for the next 15,000 years. And then cats came into the house, y'all. For the next 15,000 years cats and dogs fought each other, hissing and barking and breaking things along the way. With the emergence of technology, harmless skirmishes grew into diabolical plots as cats and dogs tried to eliminate each other as humans’ companion. Eventually humans grew tired, so dogs and cats had to do something if they wanted to stay the number 1 and number 2 animals in the human household. Cat and dog leaders worked together to stop these plots and formed an organization called The Furry Animals Rivalry Termination... The last decade has been the most peaceful in centuries."
This movie is proof positive that Hollywood refuses to let a franchise die.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 8th, 2020
I always get a little worried when I’m handed a low-budget western. Despite it being one of my favorite genres, I’m just quickly turned off by a film when it visually doesn’t look authentic. I like my westerns dirty and rugged, so when I see characters in costumes that look too clean as though they were just pulled from the rack, it’s a giant pet peeve. What had me intrigued with the film was the involvement of Joe R. Lansdale, who happens to be one of my favorite writers, and he somewhat specializes in the “weird” western genre. Bubba Ho-Tep or The Hap and Leonard series are what most would be familiar with from Lansdale. He may not have the name strength that Stephen King carries, but I’ve come to expect a good time from Lansdale. Granted The Pale Door only has Joe R. Lansdale attached as a producer, though his son was involved at some point with the writing of the script, so is that enough to make this film worth a watch, or is it a disappointment?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 3rd, 2020
"You had me worried at first. A new Starman? That'd be big trouble. A real game changer. Imagine my relief. No Starman. Just a silly little Stargirl."
The original Starman was created by Gardner Fox and Jack Burnley back in 1941. Since that time there have been quite a few DC characters that have taken on the mantle of Starman. When DC executive and veteran comics writer/creator was asked to do a series on one of Starman's sidekicks, Pat Dugan and his eventual comic Stars And S.T.R.I.P.E., he was given a directive that he could not use the iconic S.T.R.I.P.E. armor, and that just would have made the series so much weaker. Instead he counter-pitched an idea from the same era of the comics. He pitched the idea of a new Stargirl who would be somewhat based and named after his daughter Courtney, who was tragically killed in a plane crash when she was just 18 years old. He wanted to do something to represent the spirit of his daughter, and the pitch also allowed for the Pat Dugan character to appear without the famous armor.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 1st, 2020
Hollywood is no stranger to films about citizens being falsely accused in a foreign land for crimes they didn’t commit or having the charges overly exaggerated. Midnight Express is perhaps the best of the bunch, and in the 90’s there was Brokedown Palace and Return to Paradise. I’m somewhat of a fan of these films, but the problem is that they become a bit formulaic, and really, they are already an offshoot of the “wrongly convicted” prison dramas, so it’s no surprise that we really haven’t seen a film like Most Wanted in a while despite it being based on a true story. Thankfully Most Wanted brings a new take to the table as it shows us how far some dirty cops are willing to go in an attempt to get a high-profile bust.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 24th, 2020
"I was skeptical when you pitched the idea of putting the legends on television, but they've helped pacify the masses. Well? Should we get started then? We don't want to keep our worshippers waiting."
Unlike the rest of the Arrowverse, D.C.'s Legends Of Tomorrow did not have their season interrupted by the massive crossover. Because it was a mid-season series, this season of Legends Of Tomorrow actually starts with the final hour of the huge crossover. That means you get thrown immediately into the deep water, and there's no time to learn how to swim now. So if you aren't up on the show or the whole Arrowverse thing, you have some serious catching up to do. You need to get caught up on Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, and the newcomer Batwoman, and then four previous years of The Legends Of Tomorrow. I can help you with that. Just bang it here to get a look at our previous reviews: Legends Reviews. Once you're caught up, let's head straight into that crossover finale, shall we?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on September 24th, 2020
Ever since The Walking Dead first aired. it seems the zombie genre was not only revived but milked for all it was worth, and still studios continued to bleed the genre dry to the point even most diehard horror fans are sick of the sub-genre. I’m a sucker for zombie films, and even I have tired of them, but I’ll always hold out hope for some writer or filmmaker to come along and inject some creativity into the genre. It’s possible; I mean, look how long the vampire stories have been around, or even ghost stories, and yet there still are new takes on the subject matter that get us excited about them again. That’s where Blood Quantum gave me some hope. Zombies on a Native American reservation. I was hopeful for some indigenous lore being injected into this, giving us a fresh perspective…but alas, we get a watered-down, unoriginal, snooze-fest with a little bit of gore to keep viewers somewhat interested.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 16th, 2020
"Look up in the sky..."
He's pretty much the oldest of the comic book superheroes still fighting for truth, justice and the American way. Sure, Superman has changed quite a bit over the years. From the black and white George Reeves television series and the early 1940's cartoons to several film versions over the years, Superman has been an American icon since the 1930's. With the series of DC animated features, we have seen many of the modern incarnations of the Man of Steel. But this time Warner Brothers and DC took a step back from their ambitious ongoing stories to give fans a little bit of nostalgia and a look back to some of the earliest days of Superman. It has quickly become one of my favorite of this series, and I think you're in for a treat. This one is for the fan who is still a kid, if not in body, then in heart. And while the story might be somewhat "old school", you get to take advantage of the best of 21st century technology at the same time as Warner Brothers delivers Superman: Man Of Tomorrow on UHD in 4K.
